Building



Nov. 25, 19am E, P. MUNTZ 1,782,997

BUILDING Filed Dec. 30, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l NOV. 25, 1930. -r1" 1,782,997

BUILDING 7 Filed Dec. so, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov; 25, 1930. E. P. MUNTZ 1,782,997

7 BUILDING 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 30, 1927 gwwmtoz Patented Nov. 25, 11930 amour. s esaw norrano, NEW YORK This invention relatesto a building and more particularlyto a construction'ofa sys temof rampsfor a building which when so 7 equipped is particularly adaptedfor theston 'liiiage ofautomobiles andother vehicles on the a the automobiles to be driven from one floor to another. 1 Heretofore garages employing rampshave lmbeenspecially deslgned to provide different levels,theyleyel on one side of the garage beingsubstantially half Waybetweeri the the-floor above. With this constructiomitis necessary to] provide a speciallyxi designed" building which is usable for storagej garage gpurposes only, and should the character ofthej neighborhood change or any other conditions i render the running of a large 'storagegarag'e unprofitable, the building is wholly *unfitted" for any other use and canonlytbe readapted to new requirements at great expense a Financial institutions have thereforebeen unwilling to financegarages ofthis character asthe lack of ready convertibility of the building to meet newcondit'ions makes an ini V vestmentofthis character highly speculative.

Moreover, with such a 'buiIdingj there is necessarily an extra half floor atthe bottom ofthe building and a-n extrahalf floor atthe top which necessarily results inalesseconomical building in point of storagefspace, and V ahioreexpensive"building to construct. a p Also with the "increased number of short a. ramps" a greater number I of rightangle turns f are necessary: to drive the car from different, 3 levels which makes such a system of ramps considerably more cumbersome to usejthan if system otsing le ramps were employed: betweenthe fioorsri j l l w a building of standard constructionlin'; which the floors are all on the same level and should purposes. i difierent floors thereof,theramps'permitting r i The principal object of the present l. tion' is to providea system of rampsfor'uselinp Applicationflled nee breo, 1927. Serial no. 243,551. i

the s ystemof rampscan be removed easily and with small expense; The ramp embody ing the. present invention can also readily rbe installedin buildings nowused for suchotherk A further object is to provide ramp which canbe removedWithoutinterfering w th the building proper eitherbycutting i or changing any-"structural part ofthe build- Anotheraim is to produce a ramp system,-

the structural parts of which upon removing levels j on the 1 other side of. i the garage and; q 1 i i half ramps were employedbetweenthestag gered levels, two rampsubeing necessarily :traversedto elevate the car from one'floorto savingiin converting the building. H

1 A" still further objectis to provide such a system o-fjremovable ramps whichare so placed asto occupyjthe" least floor area and a provide the maximumi amount of uninter- 1' rupted floor; area for a given space and also to so-arrange the driveways on the several floors as to leave the maximum' available stor V age space;

able ramps which permits economical com struction ofthe building and eliminates ir: regularityinthe arrangement of columns or general design of the building; 1 l

Another object is to arrangethe ramp'openings so as to form averticalshaft or well so i i that, upon removing the ramps, the shaft is, if y desired, available as a light,vven tilation or elevator shaft) f I ,Inthe accompanying drawings: 1

Figure 1 is a floorplan of abuilding of standard construction'equipped with my sysg tem of'ramps. I Figure 2 is a section through the buildingshowiiig the general arrange mentiofthefsystem of ramps. Figure Elisa fragmentarytop planview of jone ofthe series ofup and downramps; Figure 4isa vertical longitudinal; section through one of the ramps, Figure 15 a vertical transverse ea section taken ou line 5 Y5,. Fig. 4:. Figure '6 is a fragmentarytransverse sectionthrough one of the curbs of the ramp. Figure 7 is a view similar to Fig, 5 but showing a modlfied construct on! 1- 1 1' 5 hereby ellecting:asubstantial' s Another aim isto design asystem of remov i Similar reference numerals refer to like parts in each of the several views.

In its general organization this invention comprises a building composed of a series of floors each of which is provided with an opening which openings are arranged one above the other so as to form a shaft, a supporting structure arranged in the shaft and support ing the up and down ramps which extend fro-m one floor to the next succeeding floor, and a driveway leading from one side of the shaft to the other so that the automobiles can be driven up the ramps and around the driveways to reach the desired floor.

The form of building shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is made of concrete or the like and includes an exterior wall 10, exterior wall columns 11, a plurality of horizontal floors 12 which may be made of pouredconcrete or precast concrete slabs and interior supporting columns 13 which are suitably spaced to adequately support the floors. At one end of the building each floor is provided with an opening 14 which openings run along the wall 10 of the building and are arranged in vertical alinement so as to form a vertical shaft or well which extends upwardly from the ground floor 15 and houses the ramps.

The ramps are supported on 1 vertical columns which are suitably supported at their lower ends at the bottom of the shaft and extend substantially the full height thereof as indicated in Fig. 2. These columns are arranged in rows extending lengthwise of the openings, the columns 16 of one row being arranged along the sides of the openings 14, and a row of columns 17 being arranged along the center of the shaft.

The ramps are arranged in two series, the series of down ramps being supported between the rows of columns 16 and 17 and the series of up ramps being arranged between the central row of columns 17 and the exterior columns 11 of the building, these columns 11 being provided with ledges 18 for the support of the ramps. As best indicated in Figs. 3 and a, each ramp comprises atransverse supporting beam 19, a pair of longitudinal channel beams 20 secured at their ends to the cross beams 19 and extending along the sides of the ramp, a pair of longitudinal central I-beams 21 secured to thecross beams 19 and a floor composed of planks or precast concrete slabs 22 which rest on the upper side of this steel structure.

The ends of the cross beams 19 of the down ramp are secured to the sides of the columns 16 and 17 of the inner and central rows of columns, and the cross beams 19 of the up ramps are secured at one end to the central columns 17 and at their other enns rest on the ledges 18 formed on the building columns 11. Any usual and well known method may be employed for securing the beams together. the beams being shown in the drawings as tied together with angle plates which are riveted to both members.

Each ramp extends from the end of one opening to the opposite end of the opening on the next succeeding floor. To support the ends of the ramp, angle bars 23 are bolted at the opposite ends of the openings 14 and the longitudinal bars 20 and 21 at the ends of each ramp rest on the shelf formed thereby as best shown in Fig. 4. In order to prevent the automobile on the ramp from striking the columns at opposite sides thereof and injuring the car or the structure, a protective curb is provided. This curb as best shown in Fig. 6 comprises a plurality of bars 24 which are securely riveted to the outer faces of the longitudinal channel bars 20 and extend upwardly through openings provided in the concrete slabs forming the ramp flooring. To the inner sides of these bars are secured a plurality of wooden bars 25 which form a wall along the sides of the ramp. The bars 24 are preferably bent outwardly to form an inclined wall and is further protected by a wooden rail 26 at its base.

Fig. 1 illustrates a floor plan which is suitable for use in connection with the present invention. In this plan two driveways 125, 126 terminate at the opposite ends of the ramp and extend transversely thereof the full length of the room. These two driveways are connected by a central driveway 127 at the center of the floor and a central driveway 128 crosses this last driveway. By this means the automobiles driven up the ramp pass from the up ramp leading to this floor onto the driveway 125, and through the driveways 127 and 126 onto the up ramp at the other end of the shaft which carries. them up to the next succeeding floor. By this means the floor area within the main drive, i. c., that area bounded by the shaft and the driveways 125, 126 and 127 may be fully utilized for storage purposes as indicated in Fig. 1.

It is obvious that the ramp system and shaft may be placed in the center of the building with equal. facility should this be found more desirable. This position of the shaft is indicated by the dotted line 28 in Fig. 1.

In the modified form of the invention shown in Fig. 7, the ramp system is constructed wholly independently of the building structure. In this form, three rows of columns 29, 30 and 31 are placed along the opposite sides and center of the shaft and the columns 29, 31 of the outer rows are connected by inclined I-beams 32, and the central row of columns 30 are connected by two series of channel bars 33, these I-beams 32 and channel bars 33 forming the side supporting bars of the ramp. The precast concrete slabs or planks 3 1 are laid upon the upper flanges of these I-beams and channel bars and are held in place by a channel rail 35 which also supports the lower end of a er end this guard plate is secured to a wooden filler bar 38 in the channel rail 35. In addition to forming a completely independent structure this form is considerably less expensive to construct and provides a greater head room between the ramps by reason of the elimination of all cross beams in the ramp structure, which increase in head room isan important factor since the distance between ramps is necessarily less than the head room providedbetween the floors of thebuilding,

and it is furthermore desirable to have overhead sprinkler systems on the ramp to guard against. the danger of fire.

Should it be desirable to remove theramp system and use the shaft as a light shaft this is accomplished by removing the ramp system, this being readily done since it is independent of the building structure. If it "is desired to substitute elevators for theramp inconverting the building, for example, into 7 an oflice building, the shaft is of proper proportions to receive a l-elevator system. If, on

p the other hand, itis desired to remove the ramp and fill the openings in the floors so as to use the full area thereof, the ramps are first dismantled, the (longitudinal beams cut to fit between the: columns in a horizontal position and each ramp is then reassembled so as to filllthe opening in the floor, the curbing being, of course, omitted. It will be noted, as best shownin Fig. 3, that the concrete slabs or planks extend substantially half the width of the shaft so that upon bringing the ramps to horizontal positions to fill the openings in the floor, thetwo series of concrete slabs completely fill the open- As a whole this invention provides a systemof ramps which permits the use of the maximum floor area forstorage, it is adapted to be used in buildings ofregular coni struction and having regular floors, it is easily removable and its parts can readily be used in filling the ramp openings in thefioor should it become, desirable to use the build- "ing for other purposes. It is built independently ofthe building structure and necessitates no alteration of the building structure in removing it. p i I claim as my invention 1. A building including a series :of spaced horizontal floors each of whichhas an opening provided therein, said openings being. arranged vertical alinement and forming a vertical shaft and a rampstructure arranged parallel rows of metal columns arranged in said shaft and mainly supported at their bases, and a plurality of fabricated inclined ramps removably secured tosaid columns between said rows and mainly supported thereby, said ramps removably abutting the said floors adjacent the ends of said openings whereby a continuous system of ramps is provided between the several floors, and theramp structure is-substantially independent of the 7 building and said ramps consisting of two sei .ries, the ramps of each series being parallel with one another and arranged at an angle the ramps ofthe other series.

2. A building including a series of spaced horizontal floors each of which has an open ing. provided therein, said openings being arrangedinvertical alinement and forming'a vertical shaft and a ramp structure arranged in said shaft, saidl ramp structure including parallel rows of metal columns arranged-in said shaft and. mainly supported at their bases, and a plurality of fabricated inclined tween said rows and mainly supported thereby, said ramps including inclined metal beams extending along each row of columns,

and mainly supported thereby, transverse horizontal beams connecting the inclined beams, additional inclined beams connecting the several transverse beams, transverse floor members carried by said beams, and each ofsaid ramps including curbs consisting of supporting members secured to and pro ecting upwardly from some of said inclined beams and railscarried bv saidfsupporting members, said ramps removably abuttingthe said floors adjacent theends of said openings whereby a continuous system of ramps is provided between the several floorsca'nd the beams and floor members of saidramps ramps removably secured to said columnsbebeing each'of suflicient length to permit their i use inrfilling said openingsupon removing said ramp structure. i y H In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

ERIC P. MUNTZ.

in saidshaft, said ramp structure including i 

